Talk:No Rest for the Devious/@comment-3041875-20170911021245/@comment-4689777-20170911124126
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy with how much you enjoyed the series finale, Ben; and thanks for this fantastic review. :D You calling it the perfect finale is really just rather heartwarming, as it was a lot of time and effort planning and writing and then of course there are so many moments that have been planned forever that we've been waiting for your reactions to for soooo long. Like yah. Been a stressful/exciting wait, and here it is. Had a bit of a struggle thinking what the teaser to the finale would be, tbh -- what would be seen as fitting enough, yanno? I believe a group scene was considered, but ultimately the idea was had to start the finale off with the same three characters who started the pilot -- Jorgio, Ali, and of course Jose, who had quite the presence in this ep -- and then lead us into PD, where we couldn't really have a group scene because they were trapped in various cliffhangers. Yeah, Jose was a massive jerk -- the exact kind of person one would expect to frequent the Dark Web, huh? And Jorgio's a jerk too, which is the reason he hired him. Both are greedy and manipulative and Jorgio saw that in Jose for a moment -- his desire to just live in a big-ass mansion, claw his way to the top however he could -- and it made Jorgio relate to Jose some, and decide to give him a chance (with the safety assurance that he could just have him deported (or whacked) if all goes to hell, which, we know, it does). Giving the butlers that flashback in the first act was our way of implementing an early-on group-scene -- which felt necessary -- and also served to show how far they've come since S1. Ben was still mourning Justine's loss; Josh was only just starting his relationship with Brad; Rena was still Liz's S&M sub, and Joe was talking about having to deal with Joanna for her crimes, and now they married. <3 It was fun glimpsing into all their childhoods, Ben's mother explaining why he's always been so walked-all-over by women, Joe sleuthing as a kid, etc. Oh, and the reveal that Josh's dad was gay was a nice one, so it's cool that you liked it all, and felt that it fed into their PD stories and relevant character aspects within this episode nicely. Yes, Val yells a lot for a woman in labour, but moo screaming shit at Ben is how she deals with the pain and also it's a long, slow, rude, drawn-out labour with lotsa gaps. I ain't a doctor but moo. Amniotic fluid embolism innit. Oh, and there was Joanna's childhood too, which was pretty ;c I'm glad you liked Val confronting Ben about always allowing himself to be taken advantage of by the women in his life. I personally felt as though Ben underwent the most growth out of any character in the episode, so your feelings on Val's death is a li'l sad, but ig I get it. That's one of the things that's been planned for ages. Ben's big devious act for the finale. It's pretty much why we kept at it with Val's existence, for that moment, so yah. Mainly, Ben's growth was meant to be demonstrated in his Act 4 scene, with Ali and with Jennifer, which you seem to have picked up on anyway; awesome that you found it a beautiful scene. Leaving Jennifer and Ben's ultimate relationship open for interpretation is also something that's been in the works for a while. Really, I think Ben's ending is the one we've been most excited about for the majority of the series. Josh and Brad were cuties, weren't they? :3 Still sad we had to kill him off for the good of Josh's arc, but it seems it paid off nicely considering you found him to be the best butler of the season, so, that's good. Nice job, Brad. Their first date was a really sweet scene to write for me; like v cathartic, one last Brosh moment. The rest was a la Joanna. Haha, Juan being taken off to be raped by Rapey Randy, another thing we've been excited for. Yeah, I get the cliche thing, especially since tape recorders and hidden microphones have been used a lot these last 2 eps, but it ultimately fed into Nadia's downfall, so at least there's that. The original three women got one last scene together, just like in 1.01. No extras, just them. Liz got a chunky focus-y flashback where we revealed that she caused Columbine, and if that's not development idk what is. Srsly though, writing what a BITCH Liz used to be (the same way we wrote her in S1, where we just went all out and didn't hold back on insults and rudeness in the sightest) and then right away writing her in the present, where she's still a bitch but... in a different way, yanno? Went to show how much she's evolved over the course of the series, and I hope you agree, because I know Liz is a character you've often had gripes with. I think she's worked hard to change for Ali, whose focus in the form of her confrontation with Fiona, yes, served to mirror her 2.01 confrontation with Jorgio some. One last assertive Ali bitchin' someone out. And later we got assertive!Ben askin' fo' dat raise. Ben's spent so long tryna build Ali up, he forgot to build himself up, and now he gets to work on that. <3 Ali and Liz ultimately engaged and married and had a baby and big ol' family and it's all a rather lovely image; glad that that's your fave ending. Yah, Kathryn was never in-league with Nadia lol, just hoping to draw a bunch of dicks and swastikas on Liz's poster, cos hehe. That was a fun reveal. Also her tits popped. And she slipped on Val's amniotic fluid. Another thing that's been a semi-long-time coming. We knew we wanted to set Kathryn up as the possible killer for the final season, considering her character is an homage to the character who turned out to be the final killer for DM. Ultimately though she's an oblivious bitch, and her ending is a satisfying one. Scrubbing floors for a livin'. I'm curious about what exactly it was that tipped you off early in the episode that Mary could be in league with Nadia. Perhaps it's just the fact that Renary was so clearly doomed to fail, and you didn't think we'd waste a main character on a doomed relationship? So we had the Jose tape, which I feared might tip you off that Mary is Nadia, but apparently nop. Super glad you didn't realize it until you actually read the words, and the fact that that scene followed up by Joanna's snooping was good and tension-y is really nice to hear. Also, Justine got lotsa involvement too. Yay for those 2 big S1 mystery peeps. <3 Love 'em. Justine saved Joanna in the end, despite wanting her dead some for slandering maids and marrying her soulmate Matthew, by providing her with the crepe pan she whacked around Nadia's face. <3 The butlers joined hands again in a circle before going to face Nadia, just as they did in 1.12 and 2.12 before carrying out those mystery confrontations. Surprisingly, actually a last-minute addition into Ali and Liz's engagement scene, but one which felt rather necessary. The butlers also got their Guardians of the Galaxy moment, all four of them joining hands before being shot, and yah it's just real happying that you liked that all along with Nadia's confrontation (sorry I dragged the reveal, ig). I get what you mean about Joe deciding to murder them all, but really I think that was more Joanna's decision which he supported; Nadia is far too dangerous to be kept alive. Like, who knows the kind of support she has in high places? She could probably find a way to get herself off if she were merely arrested, or would be resourceful enough to simply escape, and they could take neither the chance. Plus the fact that the remaining police force (not that many) was incompetent, and would have been far, far out of their depth. Like, the rest of the police are basically just normal people in uniforms, being handed a gun. I hope you liked the explanation for the police force being quite so corrupt/shitty as it is, considering that as a concept has been something you've criticized in a fair few reviews. Ultimately it's reformed under the helm of one miss Aliza Little <3<3<3 so no more black-shootings in Wikerly Hills. Butlers woulda been too grief-stricken in the moment to think too hard about Joenna's "deaths" I think, and I didn't wanna comment too much on Joanna's "death" in that scene cos it woulda been confusing to read since you hadn't seen her "die", and we more just wanted that to be part of the montage etc. etc. Silvia and Tyson's ending is one I'm a great fan of -- bittersweet for the both of them, which is fitting really for former villain Silvia. Soz Tyson, ur a good sport. But you get all the trains and iced tea and shit that you want so meh you'll live. Fair enough you can't go over everything you liked about the finale -- but it's enough to know that you did like so much about it, and I'm super excited for the character section and the series review. As for the small complaints, soz. She sent Rochelle after Joe because if Rochelle were to be caught, she already had a motive for wanting Joe dead, so it wouldn't lead any sort of suspicion her way from anyone (not necessarily the police, but Joanna, the butlers, etc. as well). And she kept Joanna's body for sentimental reasons mainly, but if that's not good enough an explanation for your liking then there's not much more explaining I think I can do. So mer. Hope you also liked the reveal of Nadia and Andrew's connection, him helping her 'cause she found Kathryn a husband. Thought that was fun. There's nothing more I have to say on the Ben/Val front that Jo hasn't already said, I think. Aliza drinks Kool Aid. Yay, Joe for best butler! :D I'm really grateful for the review Ben, and for the thirty-five other reviews you've left in the past. We really enjoyed writing this series and it's great to know you enjoyed reading it is as well, and came to care for its characters as we have. So thanks a lot :D:D:D:D:D:D:D and I can't think of a better sentence to, like, end on. Urrrrrrrrrm, many gratitude. #StayDevious